


Dear boy down the street, Why did it take us so long to meet?

by Ma_skee



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Cute, I don't want the tags to spoil, Larry Stylinson Is Real, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Harry Styles, Sad, Sick Character, Sick Louis Tomlinson, Sickfic, bear with me, before its all posted, larry stylinson - Freeform, so ill add tags as I post lol, ulcerative colitis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:00:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28499451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ma_skee/pseuds/Ma_skee
Summary: A boy moved in down the street, I'm falling for a boy I won't get to keepLooking back, I wish I had known sooner because then I wouldn't have waited*REWRITING*
Relationships: Harry Styles & Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 13
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

“I’m going for a walk.” Harry bent down to tug his shoe over his heel. 

“Ok dear, have fun.” His mother continued to type on her computer, not missing a beat. 

Harry tugged on his other shoe, pulled on a jacket, and stepped outside. He was greeted with chilly air, the crisp smell of falling leaves. There was finally a break in the rain that had been keeping Harry cooped up in the house and he was anxious to get outside. He took a deep breath, letting the fresh air sink all the way down to the bottom of his lungs. 

He crossed the street and started his walk heading down the sidewalk, towards the park. Sometimes there would be a dog or two playing fateh with their owner and Harry liked seeing the happy dogs, content with their simple lives. He waved to Mr. Dunner, the elderly man who walked with his tiny white dog to get the mail. 

Then there was a shout, causing Harry to look to his right. Down the street, there was a boy on a skateboard. He was weaving back and forth, like he had just regained his balance. He straightened out his path and crouched down a bit, heading towards where Harry was now slowly walking down the street. The boy saw Harry walking by and flashed a small smile. Harry smiled back, adding in a small wave. The boy waved back and then bent down and attempted to do a trick on his board.

Key word: Attempted.

Instead of a kickflip, he tripped over his own feet, sending himself skidding on the ground and his board flying down the street - right past Harry.

“Oops.” He was laying with his back flat on the ground, one arm on his stomach, the other flopped to his side. One by one, he wiggled each of his fingers, then his toes. He could feel his shoulder stinging and was pretty sure he had scraped some skin off his back.

“Hi,” He opened his eyes. ”Are you okay?”

What he saw would be an image that would stay in his memories for the rest of his life. Standing over him was a curly haired boy holding his skateboard. The sun was finally coming out from behind the clouds and the boy was standing directly in front of it, giving himself a halo of sunshine.

“Hello?” Shit, he didn’t realize he was staring.

“What? Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry.” 

“S’ok.” The boy held out his hand. He grabbed it, letting himself get pulled to his feet.

“Man, that was embarrassing.” He let go of the boy's hand to rub the dirt and gravel off on his shirt. He began to check his arms for any cuts or blood. His hands had a few scrapes on them, as did his shoulder, but his right elbow was beginning to throb. On the inside of elbow he found a quarter size patch of skin missing and blood dripping down his arm.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Harry asked, pointing to the cut on his elbow. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” 

“...Okay.”

And then it was awkward. Neither boy knew what to say next. Harry was worried about the boy's dripping arm, and the boy was still embarrassed about eating pavement in front of him.

“Um, can I have my board back?”

“Oh. Yeah. Here.” Harry had forgotten he was even holding it.

“Thanks.” He dropped it on the ground, stopping it with his foot. “Uh, see you around.”

He took off back the way he came, heading home. He felt a bit bad for leaving that boy there but his arm was hurting more than he was willing to admit.

Harry watched the boy skate away until he disappeared around the corner. As he finished out his walk, he continued to think about that boy. As he ate dinner when he got home, he thought about the boy smiling at him as he skated past. As he brushed his teeth he thought about how he held his hand as Harry helped him to his feet. Instead of falling asleep for his early morning shift at the bakery, he thought about how blue the boy's eyes were when the sun had shown on his face, causing him to squint a bit. Oh, how blue his eyes had been.

\---

Harry glanced up at the sound of the bakery door opening. His shift had started really early that morning, meaning he had to walk through the cold, windy dark just to set out the fresh baked bread in the display case and then try not to fall asleep as he waited for the first customers of the day. 

What Harry had not expected was for one of the early morning customers to be a little girl. She was wearing a blue coat that looked like it had already gotten years of use and pink polka dot pyjama pants. She didn’t look like she could be older than seven. Harry watched as she strode right up to the counter and looked at him directly in the eyes.

“I’m lost.”

Harry was a bit taken back by her bluntness. “What do you mean?”

“I was taking a walk with my brother and then he suddenly wasn't by me anymore…” Her eyes began to fill with tears. “... but he told me if I ever got l-lost that I should go find a cashier b-because they could help me.” And then she was full on crying - tears, hiccups and sobs. 

“Hey, hey it’s okay!” Harry quickly ran around the counter and kneeled down in front of the young girl. “It’s okay, I can help you.” He set his hands on her shoulders, trying to get her to calm down. “Look, you’re okay, you’re safe.” 

She nodded and brought her hands to her face to wipe away the tears, only to have them replaced by new ones. Harry glanced around him, not entirely sure what to do.

“I’m going to get you a glass of water, okay?” She nodded. “Okay.”

Harry stood up to walk to the back room but before he made it too far he felt a little hand grab his. The girl looked up at him with large, terrified, tear-filled eyes. “Um, you can come with me if you want?” She nodded.

So Harry went to the back room hand in hand with the young girl. She cried the whole way there, clinging to his hand. Harry pulled a paper cup from the dispenser and filled it with water from the kitchen sink. He kneeled down and handed it to the girl. She took it but didn’t drink, just continued to cry.

“Hey, can you take a deep breath for me?” She didn’t seem to hear him. “C’mon, like this.” Harry began to take some exaggerated deep breaths. She let out another sob before finally getting in a breath. “Good. Let’s take a few more, yeah?” She nodded and took a sharp inhale.

It took eight deep breaths, two cups of water, and a raspberry pastry to get the young girl - who Harry eventually figured out was named Daisy - sitting at a seat in the shop and no longer crying. He had found some different colored pens and an old notepad to color with while he took care of a few customers. He was writing down a note about the herb bread selling quickly when the door suddenly burst open.

“Excuse me, have you seen-”

“Louis!”

Daisy dropped her pens and sprinted to the arms of the boy who had kneeled down to catch her. 

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Daisy, you gave me a heart attack.” He pulled her away so he could look at her face. “Don’t ever do that again, ok? You can’t just go wandering.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

He pulls her back in for a hug. “I forgive you. Oh, thank God you’re safe. I was so worried.” 

“The boy helped me.”

“Who?”

Then he finally noticed Harry, who had watched the scene with a small smile on his face. He stood up, holding Daisy’s hand, turning to the boy she had pointed out. “Thank you so much for helping her.”

“Oh, it was no problem-”

“No, really. Thank you.”

Harry shrugged his shoulders a bit and nodded. When the boy had turned to look at him, the first thing he saw was his blue eyes. The same bright blue eyes he had seen the day before.

“Hey, wait. Are you the guy who watched me trip on my board yesterday?” 

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was me.”

He nodded. “I thought so. I’d remember that curly hair anyday.” 

Harry hoped he couldn’t see the heat he felt rushing to his face. “I’m Harry, by the way.”

“Oh, I’m Louis. Nice to meet you again.”

Harry laughed. “Yeah, again…”

The next few moments of silence and looking at each other felt like they lasted much longer than they actually did, before Louis realized he was staring again and cleared his throat. 

“Do you wanna hang out sometime? Y’know, other than me falling or finding my lost sister.”

“Um…” Harry glanced at his watch. “My shift ends at ten, then I’m free the rest of the day.”

“I need to take Daisy here home,” Louis nodded towards his sister, who was growing impatient and tugging on his hand. “But I can come back when your shift ends. Can we walk downtown?” 

Louis felt his heart speed up. He had been too blunt, he should have asked what Harry wanted to do, he shouldn’t have suggested that, Harry wasn’t going to like him anymore, if he even liked him in the first place, he had been too forceful-

“That sounds great.” Harry smiled.

Oh. “Alright then. See you at ten?”

“Yeah, see you at ten.”

And Louis left the bakery with a smile and his face and a cautious happiness in his heart.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, lookie, I'm uploading a super long chapter the day before school starts because I have no idea how busy I'm gonna be :/
> 
> comments really make my day :) thank you for reading!

Once his shift ended, Harry pulled off his apron, hung it up, and grabbed two pastries from the back room. Yeah, they were a day old but they wouldn’t be docked from his paycheck. It’s not like they had been sitting out either, they were covered. Surely Louis wouldn’t mind a day old pastry, if he could even tell.

He sat at a table, anxiously waiting, looking up every time the door opened and rang the bell. He had to remind himself that the chances of Louis showing up at exactly ten o’clock were low. That was a sixty second window out of an 86,400 second day. One minute out of a 1,440 minute day. But when ten minutes had passed, Harry couldn’t help but feel a bit deflated. But so what if he didn’t show. He was only a boy he had met yesterday, a boy with fluffy brown hair and brilliantly blue eyes….

The door opened and in walked said fluffy haired, blue eyed boy. Harry had to bite his lip to keep from smiling. He gathered up the pastries and walked over to Louis.

“Hey”

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” He sounded out of breath. “Things are kinda crazy at my house.”

“Did you run here?”

“...yeah.”

Harry couldn’t help a small laugh. “Let me get you a water.”

“Oh, you don’t…” But Harry was already reaching behind the counter, waving to the tall lady behind the register as he plucked two water bottles off the staff supply shelf.

“Would you get out of here? Your shift ended forever ago.”

“Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow Susan.”

“Bye Harry.”

Harry handed a bottle to Louis and used his back to push open the door, as his other hand was still occupied with the carefully wrapped pastries. Louis uncapped his water and followed Harry through the door.

“Where do you want to go?” Harry asked as he tucked his own water into his pocket.

“I was kinda wondering if you could give me a tour of downtown.”

“A tour?”

“Yeah, my family just moved here.”

“Oh, really?” Harry held out one of the pastries.

“Yeah, that’s why my house is so crazy. What’s this?”

“It’s a pastry.”

“Oh…” Louis looked at the pastry in his hand. He could feel Harry’s hopeful gaze on him. He couldn’t disappoint that happy smile. But he couldn’t eat this pastry either. “Um, I just ate. I’ll eat it later.” He tucked it into his pocket to show he was going to keep it.

“Oh. Alright. Anyway,” Harry spun on his heel and started walking towards downtown. Technically they were already downtown but the bakery was right on the edge of the area and most of the shops were further down the road. “There isn’t too much downtown, but there are definitely some honorable mentions.”

“Yeah?” Louis jogged a few steps to catch up to Harry.

“Yeah, like the movie theater. We should definitely go see a film sometime.” Hold up - wasn't seeing a movie together like a date thing? Had he just - 

“I’m down.” 

No, he had agreed to easily. It wasn't a date thing. “It’s a really small theater, it’s only got two screens. A lot of the movies played are either old classics or ‘new’ movies that have been out for a few months.” 

“That sounds really cool.”

The pair had made their way deeper downtown, walking by a small fountain. There was a small metal statue of three little ducks huddled under a bush.

“Oh, my sisters would love that.” Louis murmured when Harry pointed it out.

The rest of the tour was filled with Harry excitedly pointing out the little intimate details of the town, the ones that you would only know had you lived there for an extended amount of time. Louis was happy to just follow along and let Harry talk. He thought it was cute how excited Harry was, the way his eyes shone and the way his hair bounced....

“Oh! We should go in the antique shop!” Harry pointed to the small store on the corner of the street. There was a large display case in the front, set up to look like a 60’s living room. Completed with a bright yellow couch, a large box TV with dials on the sides, house plants and tall lamps. “This place is amazing, I could spend hours walking through here.” He held the door open, waiting for Louis, who was still admiring the front display.

From the outside, the shop looked like a tiny, crowded place but once you stepped inside - It was like you had stepped through a portal. The ceilings stretched high over head and the building was separated into three large sections. The first was filled with the less genuine antique things and had lots of body soaps and candles. It stretched much further back than you would even begin to think from what you saw from the street. The other side had many sections that seemed to fit a certain aesthetic. It was very common to see groups of kids taking pictures to post. But Harry thought the best part was the basement. It was musty down there, but it added to the whole antique thing. It was filled with twisty pathways that were easy to get distracted and lost in. There was no real organization, but there were groupings of objects.

“This is my favorite part of the whole shop.” Harry led Louis around a corner to a shelf filled with vintage cameras. There must have been nearly 50 different cameras, all varying in size and age. 

Louis felt a bit nervous being around all these old fragile things, nervous that he was going to break something, but Harry reached over and picked up one of the delicate cameras and pointed it right at Louis.

“Smile!” 

The camera clicked.

“Wait, did you actually take a picture of me?”

“No, there’s no film. Hold on-” Harry set the camera back on the shelf and pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He held it up, raised his eyebrows, and took a real picture. “Ta-da,”

Louis’ hair was swept off to the side and there was a small smile on his lips. His hands were tucked in his jacket pockets and his eyes shone so brilliantly blue. The background was a tall shelf filled with vintage cameras, each lens shining a bit from the fluorescent lights. 

“Oh that’s kinda a cool picture.” Louis held Harry’s phone steady, focusing hard on the picture and not that his hand was touching Harry’s.

“I can send it to you.”

Louis looked up at Harry, directly into his eyes. “Are you asking for my number?”

And the way that Harry bit his bottom lip as he tried not to smile, the way he raised his eyebrows, the way that a blush spread across his nose and cheeks was all Louis needed to laugh and pull out his own phone. 

\---

“You’re home late.” His mom looked up from where she was making grilled cheese at the stove.

Harry glanced at his watch. He’d forgotten to tell his mom about his outing.

“I’m sorry Mum, I went out with a friend.” He kicked off his shoes and tugged off his jacket. 

“Niall?”

“Uh, no. The boy who moved in down the street? His name is Louis.” Harry took a seat at the counter just as his mum passed him a plate.

“Oh, I believe I’ve spoken with his mum a bit.”

“Really?” Harry asked around his bite of the sandwich.

“Yeah, I was just passing by to get the mail. She seems like a nice lady. What did you get up to?”

“Oh, he asked me to take him on a tour of downtown. We ended up staying in the antique shop for a while. And we might go see a film sometime, maybe after school or something, just so he can experience it.”

“Experience seeing a film?”

“Experience the theater, Mum.”

“Ah, of course.” There was a glint in her eye.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“It’s a cool theater Mum. Why are you being weird?”

“I’m not being weird, I’m agreeing with you.”

“In a weird way.” 

“Whatever you say.”

Harry squinted as he shoved the last of the sandwich into his mouth. “I’m going to see what movies are playing.” He set his plate in the sink before sneaking away up to his room.

Harry’s room was his safe space, the place he spent most of his time. It had taken him a long time to make it feel the way it did, instead of just a space he often occupied. There was lots of art on the walls, most of them pictures ripped from old calendars, some were painted postcards he had found on a vacation to the beach last year, and some of them were drawings he had made himself. He loved being surrounded by art. He had a shelf filled with little random items and knick-knacks he had picked up over the years and he loved every single one. In the corner of the room sat an old guitar that no matter how hard Harry tried, he couldn’t get all the dust out from under the strings. 

The guitar was one of Harry’s favorite possessions. He had been on a walk with his Mum when they noticed a yard sale ahead. They ended up poking around a bit before Harry noticed the guitar all the way in the back, nearly hidden by some coats.

He bought it for 25 dollars and took it to a music store. One look at the old thing set the workers' faces into a frown. He said the bridge was hardly even on the body and the chances of metal strings snapping it off were high. So Harry got nylon strings, even though they weren't as good. For the first two years, the guitar mostly sat in the corner in the family room. But little by little, Harry learned a few chords, and then he learned a few more, and then he picked up strumming patterns, fingerpicking and bar chords. He still struggled 100% with bar chords but learning new things no longer felt tedious like when he first began playing. It was satisfying to know that he had learned everything on his own, that he had never taken a lesson because it was all driven by self motivation.

So instead of looking up what movies were playing he picked up his guitar and sat on the floor, leaning against his bed. He didn’t sing, just played chords, sometimes humming along, thinking about a fluffy haired, blue eyed boy. 

\---

“Louis!”

He turned towards the sound of his name and a bit of the anxiety in his chest relaxed when he saw the familiar face bounding toward him. 

“Hey Harry.”

“Is this your schedule?” Harry pointed to the paper in Louis’ hands. 

“Yeah.”

“Can I see?”

“Sure” Louis handed the paper off to Harry, who began to scan it. Another boy popped up behind him and began to read the paper as well. He had blonde hair and just by looking at him Louis could feel the bubbly personality. 

“Hey, we have the same science class. Mr. Lance is starting a new project today, maybe we can be partners. And the same English class! You’re going to love Mr. Pelican, he’s the best. Oh, and this is Niall, by the way.” Harry nodded to the boy behind him, who smiled and waved. “Niall, this is Louis, he just moved in down the street from me.”

Louis nodded back to Niall. “Is his name really Mr. Pelican?” 

“No, but it’s much easier to say than his real name and he’s chill with it.” 

“Fair enough.”

“Looks like you and I are in the same math class.” Niall said, still trying to read over Harry’s shoulder. “And Zayn has 5th period art too.”

“Zayn?”

“A friend of ours. He’s quiet, but he’s really nice and a good artist. You can meet him at lunch, we usually sit together.”

The bell rang overhead, causing the crowd in the hallway to start thinning out. “I can show you to your homeroom… and it looks like your second class is on the way. Then I’ll see you in science and for lunch, yeah?” Harry held out Louis' schedule, who carefully folded it and tucked it in his pocket. 

“Sounds good.”

“Alright. See you at lunch Niall.”

“See yah! Nice meeting you Louis!” Niall called over his shoulder as he skipped in the opposite direction.

Louis was still waving when Harry hooked his arm and pulled him down the hall behind him. 

“Sorry to rush you but my first period teacher is really strict about being late. But that room right there,” Harry pointed to a door that was decorated with paper flowers “is Mrs. Samson’s class. Science is just a bit further down the hall, but I can meet you outside the door and walk with you. And this,” Harry stopped outside a door in the first hallway. “Is Mr. Marks class. He’s a chill guy, so long as you’re on his good side. K, I gotta get to my class, the second bell is about to ring. See you for science!” He called as he jogged down the hallway.

Harry was right, Mr. Mark was a pretty chill guy. He didn’t make him stand up and introduce himself to the class like Mrs. Samson - his Spanish teacher - did. At least she didn’t make him introduce himself in Spanish. Homeroom was a drag, as was Spanish because he already knew most of what Mrs. Samson was talking about but she didn’t need to know that. When her class ended, he tucked his already completed homework into his folder and headed out the door, nearly running directly into Harry.

“Hey! Ready for science?”

“Um, yeah.”

Mr. Lance was not what Louis was expecting when he walked into the classroom. He was a short, small man with hair pulled back into a bun. His arms were covered in tattoos, but not just random ones no, they were all connected to show the cycle of life, represented with trees and butterflies. He had small gages and looked like he spent his free time rock climbing. But what Louis really liked about him was that as he explained the new project to the class, you could see his excitement for the subject. He really cared what he was teaching about and that is always the best kind of teacher. 

As for the project itself, they were being put into pairs to create children's books about the process of photosynthesis. Harry was quick to ask to be partnered with Louis and Mr. Lance agreed easily.

“We did a project like this last year, except it was about the cell cycle instead of photosynthesis. It’s kinda fun if you like artsy things.” Harry said as he pulled a notebook from his backpack.

“I’m not much of an artsy person…”

“Really? That’s okay. I’ve been thinking about this project for a while now and I was thinking it would be a cool idea to have a little bee that does all the narration? Because it’s a children’s book and all?”

Louis smiled. “A bee? That’s actually a great idea.”

They spent the rest of the period with Louis typing out the beginnings of a script on his computer while Harry started drawing some simple storyboard ideas in his notebook. By the time the bell rang for lunch, Harry’s excitement for the project had spread to Louis. Everything about him was contagious. His smile was always so happy and genuine that it made Louis want to do everything in his power to keep Harry smiling. 

\---

“Are you really into healthy food or something?” 

Louis frowned. “No, this is just what I eat.” He had brought lunch from home - a salad, a banana and sliced hard boiled eggs.

“But that’s -”

“Liam, stop. You're the one who lives off of Takis and energy drinks.” Zayn spoke up for the first time.

“No I don’t!” 

Niall’s laugh rang through the end of the hallway the five boys were camped out in. “You are literally eating Takis right now! How can you deny that?”

“I eat more than just Takis, guys.” Liam licked the red dust off his fingers.

Harry scoffed. “Not much else.”

“Whatever.”

The conversation turned to a sports game that Louis hadn’t watched so he stopped paying attention. Even if he had seen the game, it would have been difficult to pay attention because his stomach was starting to ache. He slowly put the lid on his unfinished lunch and tucked his hands into his hoodie pocket, trying to secretly hold his stomach.

The aching continued through his math class with Niall, who luckily didn’t notice he was out of sorts. Maybe that was because they had only met that day and Niall didn’t know that Louis didn’t usually spend his time quietly and hunched over. When the class ended, Louis had to ask Niall where the bathroom was just so he could sit in the stall and have a few minutes where he didn’t have to hide his pain. It also gave him a chance to dig through his backpack to find the bottle of Tylenol without having to worry about anybody seeing. By the time he made it to the art classroom and had taken a seat next to Zayn in the back of the class, the Tylenol had taken effect and he could actually focus on something else.

Zayn didn’t pay any attention to the teacher drowning on at the front of the room - he had his head bent over a sketchbook - and it wasn’t long before Louis wasn’t either. He was looking at a confusing poster about color theory when Zayn spoke up.

“Do you wanna go see a movie next week?”

Louis turned in his seat to look at him. His head was still bent over his sketchbook.

“Harry told me to ask you. I think we’ll all end up going. They’re playing The Avengers and it’s right after school so it shouldn’t be too crowded.”

“The Avengers? What theater is playing Avengers?”

Zayn shrugged. “It’s a small theater. They make most of their money by playing popular movies you won’t get to see in theaters anymore. A few months ago I went to see The Empire Strikes Back.”

“Wait, really? That must have been so cool.”

“Yeah, it was pretty sick.” He finally looked up from his sketchbook and offered Louis a small smile. Then he sat back in his seat and nodded towards his drawing. “What do you think?”

It was a cartoon drawing of their teacher - a zombie version of their teacher. Zayn had drawn words literally dripping out of his mouth and worms coming out of open sores in his skin.

Louis had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing out loud. His reaction made Zayn snicker and the two boys spent the rest of class adding to the drawing and trying their best to keep their laughter under control.

\---

“Why are we running again?” Louis huffed as they waited for the cross walk sign to turn green. 

“Because if we hurry we can get snacks from the grocery store instead of the theater.” Niall explained just as the light turned.

“Ah.” They crossed the street and crowded through the store entrance. Once inside, the boys split in different directions, each rushing to grab what they wanted by themselves to save more time. Louis ended up following Harry, who grabbed a package of gummy bears and a Sprite. 

“Are you gonna get anything Lou?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Louis didn’t notice Harry’s suspicious squint. “If you say so.”

Harry paid for his snacks and tucked the bag in his backpack as they walked to meet the other boys at the front of the store. Once they had all gathered, they ran the two blocks to the movie theater.

Niall and Liam both ordered large popcorns, mostly to get rid of any suspicion that they had snacks in their bags. Louis was admiring the old school look of the tiny theater. They took their seats just as the iconic Marvel logo began to flash on the screen. Louis was seated between Harry and Zayn, with Niall and Liam on the outside. They passed the popcorn around but Louis shook his head when the bucket was offered to him. 

The movie was amazing regardless and Louis was excited about the fact he was watching The Avengers in the theater. Where else would he get to do something like this? When the movie ended and the boys began to gather their things, Louis couldn’t help but feel the others keep looking at him. Liam whispered something into Harry's ear and snickered, taking a glance at Louis, who frowned.

“What?”

Liam shrugged. “Nothing.”

Louis looked at Harry, his eyes asking the same question.

“You’ll see.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Let’s just go, yeah?” Harry picked up both his and Louis’ bags off the ground. Louis took his and followed the others up the aisle. He couldn’t figure out why the others kept looking at him or why Liam had laughed to Harry while looking at him, but it was really bugging him. He was starting to like this group of boys, especially Harry -

“Holy Sshiii…”

Just as he left the theater, he saw someone lunging at him from the corner of the room. As he jumped back, the other four boys started cackling. Louis looked back at the person jumping at him… only to discover it was a cardboard cutout of Harry Potter.

“I’ve been coming to this theater for years,” Liam explained through his laughter. “And that dumb cutout scares me every time I leave.”

“It scares everyone.” Harry was covering his mouth as he tried to stop giggling. 

“And it’s not very often we get a new victim!” Niall chimed in, his loud laugher ringing through the room.

“Daniel Radcliff strikes again.” Zayn murmured.

“That’s what you meant by ‘You’ll see’”?

Harry nodded, still giggling, and set a hand on Louis’ shoulder. “Didn’t mean to make you feel bad, but I didn’t want to ruin it.”

“Yeah, I get that now.” He didn’t mean to be curt but his stomach had decided to start aching again and he suddenly wanted nothing more than to be at home. He pulled his phone from his pocket, pretending that he just got a text. “Hm, I gotta head home, my mom needs me.”

“Aw, mama’s boy.” Liam cooed. That boy knew just exactly how to push Louis’ buttons and set himself up to get decked. 

Harry saw Louis frown at the statement. “Shut up Liam. I’ll walk with you Lou.”

Louis didn’t really want Harry to walk with him because he didn’t want him to realize he wasn’t feeling good, but it would have been really weird to deny him, as they lived right by each other. But besides that, how could he deny Harry? “...Okay” 

Niall’s mum was going to pick up the other three boys and take them home, as they all lived on the far side of town. So they waved their goodbyes and headed their separate ways. 

Harry filled most of the silence as they walked, talking about their science project - which Louis thought was going surprisingly well and was proud at how far they had gotten in just a few weeks. He talked about his older sister and his mum in such a loving way and he talked about a watercolor painting he was working on.

“I don’t use watercolor that often but my sister got me a set for my birthday last year and I’ve been wanting to get better at it and the only way to do that is practice, y’know?”

“Of course.”

“So even though I’m not the biggest fan of how it’s turning out, I like that I’m learning how to use watercolors. Are you okay?”

Louis suddenly realized he was scrunching up his face at a particularly painful cramp. Immediately he straightened up and put on a mask. 

“Yeah, I’m fine just…” He trailed off when he saw the look on Harry’s face, sad and upset. Had he done that? “What’s wrong?”

Harry stopped walking and started fiddling with his hands. He was biting his lip again and he looked like he was trying to figure out what to say.  
“Harry?”

He opened his mouth and shut it.

“Hey, Haz, you can tell me anything.” Louis stepped closer to Harry and gently set his hand on top of his fidgeting fingers. “If you need me to listen, I’m here for you, yeah?” 

Harry scoffed. “No… Wait, I didn’t mean that!” He sputtered when Louis stepped back in shock. “I’m just worried about you.”

“Worried? Why?”

“Because…”

Because Harry was the kind of person who always noticed the little details. He may not be able to remember what he had for breakfast twenty minutes ago, but he could remember the tiniest details about a person. So while hanging out with Louis over the past few weeks, whether it was at school with the other boys or the few times they had worked on their science project at Harry’s kitchen table, he had noticed a lot about Louis. 

Louis’ favorite color was a dark red. He preferred typing on a computer over writing because he had really bad handwriting. He could actually do a kickflip and he had four younger sisters that he loved more than anything in the world. He would bounce his leg a lot but the second he started fiddling with something in his hands the leg bouncing would stop. He was a quiet guy until you got to know him, then he was more loud and rambunctious and spontaneous.

He had the most brilliantly blue eyes Harry had ever seen and Harry had already tried three different times to paint them. He was so sweet and caring and his laugh was so bright and he seemed to soften when they were alone, like he trusted Harry. That thought, that Louis trusted Harry filled him both with so much warmth and fear. 

When Harry thought about Louis, he felt his heart speed up, enough to make his breath catch in his throat. They had only met a few weeks ago but Harry felt like he had known him so much longer. They just got along so well and everything about them clicked together, like a puzzle that had been split down the middle. Harry had his puzzle pieces and Louis had his. But even though it felt like they had been friends for years, Harry couldn’t see all of Louis’ puzzle pieces and he worried he was blind to the ones that Louis didn’t like, the ones he was trying to keep Harry in the dark with.

But Harry was a noticer. He noticed that Louis didn’t eat very much. He had only finished his lunch three times and he never brought much to eat in the first place. Besides that, Harry had never seen him eat anything other than lunch at school, lunch that he had packed himself. 

“...because, well. I just - “ Harry took a breath. Confrontations were not his strong suit. “How come you don’t - How come,” He was biting his lip again and looking at anything but Louis.

“How come what?” Louis’ heart was pounding in his chest and the ache in his stomach was sharpening. What had he done to make Harry worry so much? 

Harry closed his eyes, “I’ve noticed that… that you don’t… eat very much.” and opened them to read Louis’ reaction.

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve only ever seen you eat the lunch you bring to school, never ever anything outside of that. I just… I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“What, do you think I’m anorexic or something?” It came out harsher than he intended. He just wanted to get home and lie down, his damn stomach hurt. Harry swallowed thickly, curled in on himself. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked. But if he hadn’t and something happened…

Tears pricked at his eyes. 

Louis immediately softened. 

“Haz, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m not anorexic, I can swear on my life. I actually…” Damn, he had been hoping he could have gone longer without having to admit this. 

“I have a disease - “

“What?”

“An autoimmune disease. It makes it difficult for me to eat because almost everything makes my stomach hurt.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah…”

Harry took a cautious step closer to Louis. ‘I’m sorry Lou, I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t tell you.”

“You can tell me now. If you want.”

Louis scratched the back of his neck and shifted his weight. Harry took another step closer, like he wanted to comfort Louis but he wasn’t sure how. 

“It’s called Ulcerative Colitis. It essentially means my white blood cells hate my colon. I was diagnosed when I was eleven and there’s no cure so I’m stuck with it for the rest of my life.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault.”

“I meant -”

“I know what you meant.” Louis murmured, looking down at his shoes. Harry set his hand on top of Louis’. “I’ve had bad experiences with people's reactions when I’ve told them that in the past. Like I suddenly become fragile and broken, or they ask if I’ve tried yoga and talk about how it worked so well for them, even though they didn’t have an autoimmune disease. It doesn't work like that. And the worst is they then see me as sick and gross and contagious even though again, that’s not how autoimmune diseases work.”

Harry’s fingers slowly began to interlace with Louis. “Knowing that doesn’t change you in my eyes.” He looked into those blue eyes. “I’m glad that I understand you a bit better now, and if you ever need anything - I’m here for you. Always.”

Warmth spread through Louis’ chest. He rubbed his thumb over Harry’s knuckles. A surge of affection rushed through him. Holding hands didn’t feel like enough. He dropped Harry’s hand and instead wrapped his arms around the boy, holding him close and tight. It must have shocked Harry, because it took him a few seconds to return the hug. 

“Thank you.” Louis whispered.

“Always.” Harry whispered back. 

\---

“How was the movie, love?” His mum called as he walked in the door.

“It was great, Mum.” Louis dropped his backpack on to a kitchen chair and collapsed in the seat next to it. His mum walked up behind him, kissed the top of his head and ruffled his hair. Then she took a seat across from him, finally getting a good look at his face.

He was pale, so pale, and that did nothing to help the dark bags under his eyes. He also looked about four seconds away from falling asleep right where he sat and he had his arms tucked around his stomach - a tell tale sign that he was hurting.

“How are you feeling?”

He shrugged. 

“That bad?” She sighed. “Well, you have your regular appointment with Dr. Garcia next week. I’ve already messaged him to let him know you’re not feeling good and he asked if we wanted to move the appointment up.”

Louis shook his head. That appointment had been carefully scheduled around his moms schedule. Moving the appointment would cause unnecessary stress on her. 

“Alright… do you need anything then?”

Another shake of his head.

“Okay, dear.”

She reached out and gently patted his shoulder.

“Mum?”

“Yes?”

“I told Harry today. After the movie.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. He said he was worried about me because he noticed I don’t eat very much. I figured it was easier to tell him at that point.”

“How did he take it?”

“Really well, actually.”

“Hm. He’s a good one, that boy.”

A small smile formed on Louis’ lips. Harry really was a good one. Of course his watchful mum noticed the smile. She also noticed the small wince he did as his stomach reminded him it existed.

“Why don’t you go lie down, hm? I’ll make you a heat pad and some soup.”

“I’ve got homework.” Louis mumbled as he rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. 

“You can do it later. I’ll send the girls to wake you if it gets too late.”

“Telling your son not to do his homework? Great parenting.” Louis stood from his chair.

“Hm. Says the lad about to fall asleep standing up. Go lie down.”

“Alright, alright I’m going.”

She pulled him into a hug and placed another kiss on the top of his head. Then he trudged up the stairs, kicked off his shoes and fell into bed. He pulled the covers up to his chin, trying to ease the chills that had started suddenly. 

He thought about Harry. He had shared his biggest secret, his biggest insecurity. He had shed some light on his puzzle pieces for Harry. Harry, who hadn’t laughed, who hadn't been grossed out, who hadn’t told him to do yoga and didn’t see him as broken.

He said he understood better.

Tears slid down the side of Louis’ face. 

He wanted to keep his illness a secret for as long as possible, but Harry had watchful eyes. It reminded him of his mother.

Harry really was a good one.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello!

I wanted to say that I'm going to be taking this story down soon. I didn't like where it was going so I'm working on rewriting it. I'll repost it once I've finished writing it again. I can't say for sure when that will be but I hope you understand. 

Thank you for reading, hope to see you on the repost!

-It will be posted under the same name  
-Some of the writing will be the same but I've taken out some of the parts I posted on this one  
-I'm not going to post chapter by chapter, It's going to be one big post

Again, Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> I really want to try and finish this before I start school on the 4th but I have so so so much more planned to write aahhgghhghjk


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